


One Thing Leads To Another

by SymmetryIsTheAnswer



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:22:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23501530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SymmetryIsTheAnswer/pseuds/SymmetryIsTheAnswer
Summary: What happens when Sasuke decides to come back to Konoha? And Sai starts to realize he has feelings for Sakura? SaixSaku One-shot. Rated M for language.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Sai
Comments: 9
Kudos: 104





	One Thing Leads To Another

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I wrote a few years back. Since I am new to AO3, I decided to rework it a little bit and post it as my first story here! 
> 
> This is just a little one shot for Sai and Sakura. Hope you enjoy it!

Sakura sat down, leaning against the tree behind her, silently observing her teammates spar. She chuckled at just how different they were. Naruto's hits were all over the place, impromptu and somewhat sloppy. _Just winging it_ , he called it. Also, every time Naruto threw a punch, he screamed at the top of his lungs, completely ignoring the element of surprise. 

_But then again, he's always been that way,_ Sakura thought to herself, smiling.

Her gaze then fell upon Sai, how every movement of his was precise, each hit had a purpose, and you could just see behind those dark eyes that he was always thinking. Thinking of his next move, thinking of what or how he could improve next time he was faced with the same attack, thinking of... just always _thinking._

 _Just like_ him.

One look at Naruto, you could immediately guess that he was an overly excited, hyperactive, happy boy, with a big heart. All those characteristics simply _radiated_ off of him. But even though he could be annoying, and he always stuck his nose where it shouldn't be, Sakura couldn't deny that he was the closest friend she had.

Her gaze then shifted back towards Sai. That guy was simply _unreadable._ She had tried to get close to him on many occasions, but he’d simply ignored her. He had insulted her and cast her to the side like... _trash._

 _Just like_ him.

Nonetheless, deep down, she knew there was good in him. She had had her doubts, up until the point where Sai had actually shown _true emotion_ at the memory of Shin, the boy who he looked up to as an older brother.

Sakura was so lost in thought that she startled when she heard Sai's voice slightly rise after calling her name more than a few times, "Sakura-san!" The medic-ninja shook her head, pulling herself out of her daze and looked up at Sai's usual fake smile.

"Yes?" she answered, annoyed. 

"Were you thinking about how ugly you are, Hag?" he asked in a tone that implied he knew nothing of the weight of his words. 

Sakura frowned and stood up with a menacing aura emanating around her. _Though in the end, he's always the same_ bastard _that I hate so much,_ she thought to herself before balling her right hand into a fist, wounding it back and punching him right across the face, making him fly across the training ground and into a tree. Sakura's brow twitched as she said, "Maybe you should take a break, Sai- _san,_ " she said his name sarcastically.

She straightened up and cleared her throat, turning to face Naruto. "You ready to train?" He looked at her with wide eyes, practically saying, ' _please don't kill me'_.

They were about to start when Yamato came running towards them. "Is everybody here?" He seemed quite frantic, which piqued Sakura's interest.

Sai came up behind them, having recovered from Sakura's vicious attack. "What's up Yamato-taichou?" Naruto asked, jumping up in excitement. "Is it a new mission! Oh, maybe we're going to escort some royal back to their country! Or, no, maybe we need to retrieve this really important scroll that could save the _world!_ Or-"

"Naruto! It is not a mission... It's a lot more important than that..." Yamato's sentence trailed off as his gaze lingered mostly on Naruto and Sakura. He cleared his throat, "Hokage-sama wants to see Team 7 in front of her desk in 5 minutes," he said and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The three shinobis didn't waste any time heading towards Tsunade's office; jumping from roof to roof until they were at her front door. Sakura knocked.

"Come on in." They all did so and lined up in front of her; expecting a dangerous mission of some sort, expecting information about the Akatsuki... expecting anything _but_ what unraveled next.

"Now, I expect you all to know why you are here?"

They all glanced at each other dubiously, slowly shaking their heads. Tsunade sighed and scowled at Yamato.

"You didn't even tell them the main _reason_ why I called them here?" Yamato swallowed hard and started to stutter.

"U-Uh... You s-see, its b-because I wasn't r-really sure h-how to break it to t-them..."

Tsunade held back her rage, annoyed that she had to be the one to break the news. She was hoping she could just move on to the _what we are going to do next_ part. She took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair.

"We have a certain guest that came back... and before you overreact, we have proof that he _is_ innocent... Well, at least his intentions are innocent," she muttered that last part.

The three teammates glanced warily at each other, knowing that when _Tsunade_ started _rambling,_ it couldn't mean good news.

Obviously, Naruto didn't quite understand the meaning of 'patience' and walked up to her, slamming his hands on her desk, hard, "C'mon Granny Tsunade, I want to get back to my training!"

The Hokage sighed and got up from her chair, gesturing towards the shadows where a dark silhouette lurked. "You can come out now."

The person, or rather the man, who came out made Sakura's heart skip a beat, her catching in her throat… _Sasuke Uchiha._ _The_ Sasuke who she had obsessed over for so many years. The same man who she had loved and the man she would have given her heart to, even her life, if he would have just accepted it. The same man who had made her cry for so many endless nights when he had abandoned them… When he had abandoned _her_...

Her mind was a jumble of thoughts; there were so many things going through her head as she watched the man she once loved standing right in front of them.

 **_Still love_ ** _,_ her inner Sakura said cockily. She ignored her and tried to calm down. She looked at Naruto and Sai from the corner of her eyes.

Naruto looked surprised; his mouth was agape, not knowing how to react to this situation. You could just see it in his eyes that he was remembering all those moments that he and Sasuke had shared. All those times when he was still in Team 7, before he left them, before he betrayed them.

Sai, on the other hand, had his fake smile on, clearly not understanding the gravity of this situation.

"Sasuke will be rejoining Team 7, but he will be guarded by five ANBU until he is proven to be completely innocent," Tsunade explained, talking as if this traitor hadn't abandoned his friends for revenge against his brother.

Before anything else was said, Tsunade dismissed them to go back to the training grounds to try and get used to their returning team member.

When they got back, everyone stayed silent, not too sure what to do next. Of course, Sai was the one to break the ice.

"So, are we ready to train?" No one said a word.

Sakura sighed and grabbed a clueless Sai, dragging him to the side.

"Sai, you should really just keep your mouth shut," she said, refraining from smacking him up right on the head. She needed to keep telling herself that Sai simply did not understand the situation at hand and that she had to be extremely patient with him.

The confused ex-ROOT member raised an eyebrow, "Did I say something wrong?"

Sakura shook her head and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "No, not necessarily. It's just that… It's complicated Sai."

He shook his head and frowned, "Ugly, if even _you_ can't explain to me what I did wrong, how am I supposed to improve my social skills?"

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. _It's really hard to feel sympathy when he's acting like such an ass._

"Look, I'll explain later, just… just keep your mouth shut for now… please," she added that last part, trying to be polite, proving that she was quite desperate for his cooperation. Sai nodded and they made their way back to Naruto and Sasuke.

Sakura cleared her throat, "Well, we're here to train, so… umm…" She wasn't quite sure where she was going with this, but thankfully, Kakashi decided to appear right there and then.

"Hm, it seems that we are now back to the original Team 7, but with an extra member," he said, his eyes creasing as he smiled behind his mask. "Alright, let's start this training session. Naruto and Sai, you two can spar, as usual. Sakura and Sasuke, you do the same."

The two groups separated; Naruto and Sai going to a more open space and Sakura, Sasuke, and the five ANBUs following him, going to a more secluded place in the forest.

The two of them faced each other, keeping quiet. Sasuke was the first to speak.

"You seemed to have changed, Sakura," he said, a smirk playing on his lips.

She hated how his words made her stop in her tracks. She hated how she couldn't keep her eyes off of him. And before she could even think of a retort, he had already disappeared and he was now behind her, his face close to her ear.

"Do you know why I came back?" he whispered in her ear.

Sakura chuckled humorlessly. Was this really happening? Was her fantasies of Sasuke coming back to whisk her off her feet and run away together to live happily ever after actually coming true? She shook her head. _No._ She wouldn't _let_ it happen; she _couldn't._ No matter how much she wanted to. He had put Naruto and herself through hell and back ever since he decided to walk away.

"Let me guess, you came back because you missed me, Sasuke-kun?" She turned to face him, harsh features displayed on her face. "Well, sorry to break it to you, but I won't be buying your bullshit anymore."

There didn't seem to be any emotional change in him, except for the slight tension in his jaw that Sakura's trained eyes did not miss. Sasuke looked down to the ground. What he said next was the last thing the medic-ninja ever expected him to say,

"I'm sorry… I know what I did was wrong…" She stared at him, wide eyed and in shock. _Was this really the Sasuke-kun she knew? Or did he really change?_

Sakura was at a loss of words, unable to say anything. Her body reacted before she even realized what she was doing: she punched the man standing in front of her with all the force she could muster, letting out her anger and frustration.

Sasuke had most definitely not expected that. He flew right into the tree behind him, landing on the ground with a thud.

He got back up, wiping blood from his mouth.

"What was _that_ for?" he snapped at her.

She shrugged and crossed her arms. "I dunno, I just really felt like punching a traitor right now, and it just so happened you were the closest one," she said, overly sarcastic.

The next sentence did not come from Sasuke's lips, but the man that was walking up behind her, "Now, now, Hag, don't you think you're being a little harsh?"

She took a deep breath and turned around to find Sai's body a little _too_ close to hers.

"What do you want, Sai?"

He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, "Naruto wants to spar with Sasuke and it doesn't seem like I’m interrupting anything productive, anyways."

Sakura gave one last glance at the Uchiha behind her. “Fine with me,” she said as she followed Sai to where they would be sparring together.

When Naruto saw them, he started walking to where Sasuke was, passing Sakura while saying, "No worries, Sakura-chan, I'll make sure we never lose him again…"

She gave a small smile, not too sure how to react, even though she knew he would keep his word.

"I don't seem to understand why you two are so bothered by him coming back," Sai said. After one quick look at his face, Sakura knew that he truly had no idea why.

"Sai, he was an old teammate of ours and he ran away for his own revenge."

"I already know this from the Hokage," Sai interjected, not letting her explain any further.

She kept reminding herself to be patient with him, "It's like…" she struggled to find an example, "It's like if Shin had become evil, left you behind as if you were nothing… Disposable. And then he suddenly decided to appear in your life, hoping, no, _expecting_ that everybody will be grateful to receive him with open arms!" She didn't realize that the tears she had so desperately tried to hold back were now falling freely down her cheeks.

"The same man that you would've given up your life for! The same man that you loved your whole life and that only saw you as weak and useless! The only person who you thought could bring you happiness…" Her voice was dying down as her voice cracked.

Sai had a very strong feeling that she wasn't speaking about Shin anymore. He stared at her with confusion.

"Ug—Sakura-san," he started, thinking it would be better not to make her mad in this state, "Are you upset about something?"

She squinted her eyes at him and grit her teeth, "What was your first clue, Sai? That I'm actually crying in front of a cold-hearted bastard like you?"

That stirred something in him. Like a sort of boiling feeling in his stomach. As if he wanted to scream at the woman right in front of him for accusing him of such. He thought for a minute, _Anger… That's what they call anger…_

He remembered when Naruto and Sakura had gotten angry at him for being so emotionless. That, when he felt something, he shouldn't be afraid to let it out, and that's what he was about to do.

Until Sakura broke down crying, her hands covering her face as she sobbed.

Sai frowned and watched her intently. He suddenly felt bad for the girl on the ground before him. He never wanted to see her cry. All the times he insulted her and made fun of her, it was only to make her _react_ . He read in one of his books that they call it _teasing_ . He couldn't understand why anyone would ever want to make this girl _cry._

He crouched down beside her, laying a hand on her back, rubbing it soothingly. He had read in a book that this was one of the best things to do when a friend was upset.

Although, he never expected her to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him towards her.

His whole body went rigid. Was she so desperate for comfort that she would actually go to _him?_ Or was she just going for the first person she could hug?

 _Hug… Wait. Is she expecting me to hug her back?_ He thought, feeling his heartbeat accelerate and his face grow hot. In any other situation, with anyone _else,_ he'd probably just push them away and tell them that there was no point in crying… But he just couldn't bring himself to do that to the heartbroken girl in his arms.

He slowly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. He didn't know what else to do _or_ say; so instead, he simply stayed silent and let her make the next move.

When she finally calmed down, Sai expected her to pull back, but she didn’t. He felt butterflies in his stomach when she pulled him closer and leaned close to his ear, whispering, "Thank you, Sai. You're a good friend," she said, leaning back to smile at him.

 _Friend._ Somehow the word felt wrong; like it didn't quite fit in between _them._

Sakura saw the confused look on his face, which made her ask, "What's wrong?"

He shrugged and got back up, dusting his clothes off, realizing that the front of his shirt was now stained with Sakura's tears. The thought didn't cross his mind twice and he outstretched his hand towards her.

She grabbed it and pulled herself up. She was about to ask again until their sensei cut her off.

"Alright everybody, let's call it a day and meet each other tomorrow! Same time, as usual."

She sighed and turned back to look at Sai, but he was already gone.

Her lips fell into a small frown and she turned around to see Sasuke and Naruto walking towards her.

"Where did Sai go?" Naruto asked, looking around.

"Probably home," she said with a shrug. Her eyes kept trying to avoid Sasuke's at all cost.

"How'd your training go?" she asked, looking straight at Naruto.

He gave his goofy grin and made a thumbs up. "I totally kicked dattebayo's ass!"

Sasuke smirked, "If by that you mean me wiping your face on the floor, then yeah, I guess you did."

That made Sakura chuckle. It felt like the good old days: before Sasuke had ever betrayed them, and before he broke her heart, before _Sai_.

She was taken aback by that last thought. Sakura often forgot that Sai had not always been around. She remembered the first time they met him, their first mission together… It took a while for them to come around to Sai. In all fairness, he wasn’t the most pleasant person to be around either. 

_At first._

Even though he was without a doubt a pain in the ass, Sakura had gotten closer to him throughout the years. He may seem heartless at first, but Sakura saw deeper than that. 

She always loved looking at his drawings; those were the first signs that had proven to her that Sai indeed _felt_ something. 

Every mission they had together, Sakura never once doubted that Sai had her back. Every time she found herself in risky situations, he would always appear by her side, fighting alongside her. 

Which is more than she could say for Sasuke. 

“Sakura? Why are you smiling off into space like that?” Naruto interrupted her train of thought. She was brought back to reality and refocused her attention to the two men in front of her.

"I'm glad you two are getting along," she said, giving them a half-hearted smile, and turned around, preparing to leave.

"Wait, Sakura…" She heard Sasuke's voice say behind her.

She turned around, only to be surprised to see Sasuke standing right in front of her, grabbing both her hands in his and looking straight into her eyes. Her eyes grew wide and she was very surprised to realize that she didn’t feel her face flush, or butterflies in her stomach, or even her heart racing like crazy. She looked into his ebony eyes and saw an expression she never expected to see: regret. 

"Thank you… for everything… And I'll hope that one day you'll be able to forgive me." This didn't sound _anything_ like Sasuke _._

 _He must be really serious about gaining our trust,_ she thought, smirking a little. _Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to give him a chance._

"Okay, Sasuke-kun… I’ll give you the chance to regain my trust. But you better promise to _never_ leave again…" she said, looking intently into his eyes.

He gave her a relieved smile, nodding. 

They looked at one other: the original Team 7. All that was missing now was Kakashi and it would be just like old times.

Then Sai popped into her mind once again. That's right, she had wanted to go and see what was wrong.

"Alright, well, I need to take my leave, so I will see you all tomorrow," she waved and started sprinting back.

Naruto and Sasuke stood there, eyebrows raised, wondering why she was in such a hurry.

The exhausted kunoichi stood at Sai's front door. She took a deep breath and knocked. She heard footsteps, and then the door opened.

"Ugly, what are you doing here?" Her fists clenched, but she forced herself to not punch him here. She could do plenty of that tomorrow while they were training.

"You never answered me back there," she said, relaxing a bit now.

He didn't seem to catch on, but when he did, she saw the noticeable way that he shifted his weight, feeling uncomfortable, though his face stayed impassive.

"Look, I am quite busy—" Before he could finish, she had already walked in and sat on his couch, looking at him.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me, so you might as well just give it up." She said, giving him a sweet smile.

He sighed and closed the door, walking towards his kitchen. "I'll go and make some tea."

With Sai gone, Sakura was able to look at her surroundings. She had never really been in his apartment. Every time she came to get him, it was either for a mission or ask him if he wanted to come and hang with her and Naruto.

His apartment was quite simple; he had white walls with a few paintings hanging on them. There was a shelf beside the couch with a few books. On the far corner of the room there was a table with all his ninja tools, including his brushes and blank scrolls. She looked back at the kitchen entrance and watched as Sai walked out with two cups of tea. He placed one of them in front of her and sat down beside her.

"So, do I need to ask again, or are you ready to tell me," she said teasingly. He sighed.

"You can be quite stubborn when you want to, you know?" She simply stared at him, waiting for him to properly explain himself.

"Usually, I know it myself because of all the books I am reading, but this emotion seems to have escaped even my comprehension," he started, looking at the ceiling in thought.

"Although, I do have a theory as to what I am feeling, I guess I should ask you to make sure that I am right… but I might be wrong," he said, rambling.

"What is it, Sai?" she asked, not sure where this was going. Sai _never_ rambled; she didn't even want to fathom the reasons why he would, so she simply listened.

He turned his head towards her and looked her straight in the eye when he said, "Sakura-san, I think I'm in love with you."

From anyone else, it would have sounded like a confession, but she knew better: Sai was simply stating that he actually _thought_ he might love her. He was clearly confused, and he was hoping that Sakura would be able to organize his jumbled thoughts.

Even though she knew this wasn't necessarily a confession, Sakura still felt her cheeks getting a little warmer.

"What makes you say that, Sai?"

"Well, every time I see you, my heart starts pounding, almost as if it’s about to burst out of my chest. And when you punch me because I made you mad… It sort of makes me feel good, like you're noticing me… I'm not sure how to explain it, but…" his sentence trailed off.

Sakura scooted closer to him and placed a hand on his arm.

"As much as I'd like to say yes, I must say that… Well…" She was hesitating, not really sure how to say it.

"Look, Sai, when you fall in love, you'll _know._ " She stated finally, looking him in the eyes.

Sai looked down, his eyebrows knitted together. "Alright, let me rephrase this, then," his black eyes stared into her emerald ones, "I _know_ that I'm in love with you, Sakura."

There was a moment of silence as they simply stared at each other.

"Sai," she whispered, barely able to say his name. She slowly slid her hands up to his shoulders and immediately pulled back.

"I can't," she said, looking at the ground, frowning. Sai pursed his lips, feeling a little hurt; not that he would let her know.

"Is that what you usually call a _rejection?_ " he asked, looking at her.

She snapped her head up in surprise, noticing how much it seemed to bother him.

"N-No… it's just… I… I can't handle being hurt…" she hesitated, not letting go of his gaze.

He raised an eyebrow. "Who said I would hurt you?"

She stayed silent, shaking her head. Sai had no idea what was going on in her head and it was clearly bothering him.

"What are you—"

"Will you leave me?" she blurted out, cutting him off.

Sai chuckled, finding it amusing that she was still comparing him to that guy, _Sasuke._ He was fully aware that, ever since he joined Team 7, she had been doing so.

He answered her by softly pulling her head towards him and planting a soft kiss on her lips. He pulled back almost immediately and watched her for any reaction. All he saw was shock and he suddenly wondered if what he did was completely out of place.

"I-I-I'm so—" he started stuttering, until she interrupted him with her own lips.

He didn't waste any time in responding and pulling her closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tangled her hands in his dark locks.

They were now caught in a passionate kiss.

That's when Sakura realized that the man kissing her didn't think as much as she thought. I mean, even though he knew nothing of romance or such, he was still able to make her heart beat 100 miles an hour and make her blood rush to her face; making her feel _happy._

 _Unlike_ **_him._ **

She realized just how gentle he was as he laid her down along the couch, deepening the kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tightly against him, making her feel like she was the most important person to him in his life.

 _Unlike_ **_him._ **

That's when everything settled in, and it all became crystal clear:

Sasuke and Sai were _nothing_ alike. Sasuke acted cold and heartless because he sought out revenge; he walked away and never looked back. Sai acted cold and heartless because he didn’t know any better; but he always tried his best to learn and become a better person.

Sasuke didn't want anything to do with them, so he isolated himself from Team 7 and betrayed them in the end. Sai decided he wanted to be different and be a part of a team with Naruto and Sakura, so he betrayed Danzo to become a true member of Team 7.

All this time she kept telling herself that the only reason she had feelings towards Sai was because he resembled Sasuke… but she now realized she was wrong.

She had fallen in love with _Sai_. He had actually helped her move on from Sasuke. He had done so without her even realizing it.

Sakura pulled back and smiled at the man above her.

"I love you, Sai."

He gave her a smile, a _real_ smile.

"I'd have to say the feeling's mutual," he said, before bringing his lips to hers once more.


End file.
